The following is a guest post from Financial Fellow.

I work for a publicly traded company that offers its employees the option of buying its stock at a 15% discount.   I take full advantage of this program.  Why?  It allows me to gross an extra 2-3% a year on top of my salary with extremely minimal risk.   Here’s how it works:

Each paycheck 15% of my income is withheld.  On the last day of the quarter all the money that has been withheld is used to purchase shares of my company’s stock at a 15% discount of the stock’s quarter ending price.  Next, I sell all the stock at the full share price as soon as possible - usually 7 business days after the purchase date.  (It takes about a week for the purchase of shares t

This post made me want to ask all of you:

Do you give to your college (your alma mater)?

Every year I get calls from both my undergraduate and graduate schools asking me for money. I never give to them. Here's why:

1. I paid/worked to go to school, didn't I? So to ask me to now give is like asking me to donate to Walmart after I just purchased something there, isn't it? Ok, so it's not exactly the same, but you get the idea. Yes, I did get scholarships to attend these schools, but these certainly weren't given to be repaid were they?

2. Aren't I already giving by supporting schools in my state? Don't public universities get money from the state government? Part of that is my money, FYI.

3. Don't colleges ask curre

This piece says it's good to thank your boss. Their rationale:

Think of the lovely warm fuzzy feelings you have toward people who say nice things about your work. Now think how great it would be if your boss was having those same warm fuzzy feelings about little old you!

No matter how bad or good your boss, your relationship (not to mention your job security) can be improved with a simple, sincere, professional, nonsycophantic thank you.

Ok, so it's not necessarily a thank you -- maybe it's a compliment. Maybe it's a "you did this well" or "good job on that project."

I don't do this much and I should do more of it. Not because I want to keep my job (though I do) but because my boss is a great guy who does a tremen

Here's a comment left on my post titled Six Ways to Save on Pet Costs:

Don't buy a pet. I made the mistake of buying a dog in 2000. It turned out that this dog is allergic to just about everything known to dog including cats (its highest allergy - reaction off the scale), 17 different types of grasses, and a dozen or so animal proteins. The first 5 years of her life cost me about $2500 - $3000 per year in vet costs. We are down to about $1000-$1500 per year in vet bills now. No amount of DIY could have saved what I have BLOWN on this dog. The dog doesn't even like me on top of that and it urinates wherever it feels like IN THE HOUSE!!! Now my wife and son won't let me get rid of the d--n thing. Bitter? No, I'm not bitter!!!

It was a "cute"